Michele Alboreto
|birthplace = Milan, Italy |death date = |placeofdeath = Klettwitz, Germany |nationality = |status = Deceased |firstrace = 1981 San Marino Grand Prix |firstwin = 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix |lastrace = 1994 Australian Grand Prix |lastwin = 1985 German Grand Prix }} Michele Alboreto ( ; born December 23rd 1956 in Milan, Italy – died April 25th 2001 in Klettwitz, Brandenburg, Germany) was an Italian Formula One driver from the 80s and 90s. Alboreto was killed during a test session with an Audi sports car at the Lausitzring in Germany. Early Years Alboreto started his racing career a lot later than most successful racing drivers today. Alboreto was aged 20 in 1976 when he started his career in Formula Monza with a small car that he and his friends bult known as the CMR. The car was extremely uncompetitive and throughout the 1976-77 seasons, the car failed to score a point and struggled to finish most races around the legendary Monza circuit. For 1978, Alboreto moved up into Formula Italia with a more competitive chassis. Alboreto finally managed to show his true potential as a race driver and took multiple wins throughout the season. Formula 3 After an impressive first season in Formula Italia, Alboreto moved up into Formula 3 with the Euroracing Team. He competed in both the Italian and European Championship. In the Italian Championship Alboreto took 3 wins during the season and battled hard for the title, however he was not good enough to beat title rival Piero Maganelli, however he managed to finish a strong second in the championship. In the European F3 series he failed to take a win but took several podiums and eventually finished 6th in the championship. In 1980, Alboreto continued on in F3 in both series with Euroracing. In the Euro Championship, Alboreto took a strong step up and managed to take the title after 4 race wins and 6 other podium finishes out of 14 races in the season. The Italian Championship was less successful and only took one win and only finished 3rd in the champ due to poor reliability. Alboreto also made a solitary appearance in the British F3 Championship where he landed his Euroracer third at Brands Hatch. Sports Cars In 1980 Alboreto had a brief career in Sports Cars with the Lancia team. His car proved unreliable and failed to finish the 4 races he entered, he then resigned from the team and the series. Formula 2 After impressing in F3, Alboreto managed to secure a drive with F2 Minardi team. The car was quick but unreliable which failed to see him as one of the more competitive runners in F2, however he did manage to win one race. Alboreto also had limited testing in the car since his F1 career and Endurance career would not allow. At the end of 1981, Alboreto gave up on F2. Endurance Racing In 1981, Alboreto entered Endurance Racing alongside F1 and F2. Joining up with the Martini team, he was contracted for only a partial season to make time for his other racing events. Nevertheless, Alboreto impressed as he took victory in one of the 4 events he started in 1981. After an impressive season in 1981, Alboreto was back with Martini for 1982 and this time competed in 8 events and out of those 8 he took 3 victories. He could have possibly contended for the title that year but since he was on only a partial contract for the year due to F1 commitments he was unable to participate in any more races. For 1983, Alboreto raced in both the European and World Endurance Championships with 5 races in the WEC and 6 races in the EEC with Martini again. However despite several podiums in both series, he failed to get a win during the year. At the end of the year he decided to end his Endurance Career and focus completely on F1. Formula 1 1981-1983: Tyrrell 1981 After impressing performances in F3, in 1981 Alboreto was drafted in to the Tyrrell F1 Team in round 4 at the San Marino Grand Prix to replace Ricardo Zunino who was underperforming in the team. Alboreto partnered American Eddie Cheever at the team. In his first race Alboreto collided with fellow Italian Beppe Gabbiani sending both of them out of the race. Alboreto struggled throughout the season and failed to qualify on two attempts and his car proved extremely unreliable and failed to finish most of his races. It was a miserable first year in F1 for Alboreto and he failed to score any points unlike Cheever who scored 10. 1982 Remaining on at Tyrrell for 1982 things improved a fair bit. Alboreto was now partnered by new teammate Slim Borgudd at Tyrrell. In the second round of the championship, at Brazil, Alboreto scored his first points with a fourth place. After repeating the feat the next race, he scored his first podium at the San Marino Grand Prix. After this, he did not score points for six races, before a sixth place at France and a fourth at Germany. For the last two races, he finished fifth in the Italian Grand Prix and then took his first Formula One victory at the final race at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. He scored 25 points in the season, and was eighth in the championship. F1 Career History Statistics Wins Career Results |12th| | |16th| | | |9th| |11th|13th|0|NC}} | | | |10th| | |7th| | | | |7th| | |25|8th}} |9th|8th| | |14th| |8th|13th| | | | | | |10|12th}} |11th| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |30.5|4th}} | | | | | | | | | | |13th| | | | |53|2nd}} | |10th| | |8th| |8th| | | | | | | | |14|9th}} | | | | | | | | | | |15th| | | |17|7th}} |18th| | | | | |17th| | | | | | |11th| |24|5th}} | | | | ||| | | | |11th| | | |6|11th}} | | | |17th|10th| | |12th|13th|12th|9th|10th| | |0|NC}} | | | | | | | | | | | |15th| | |13th|0|NC}} | | |7th|7th|7th|7th|9th|7th| |7th| |15th| |6|10th}} |11th|11th| | | | | | |16th| |14th| | |||0|NC}} | | | | |11th| | | |7th|9th| |13th|14th| | |1|24th}} Notes References Category:Drivers Category:Italian Drivers Category:Tyrrell Drivers Category:Ferrari Drivers Category:Lola Drivers Category:Arrows Drivers Category:Footwork Drivers Category:Minardi Drivers Category:Michele Alboreto Category:1956 births Category:2001 deaths Category:1981 Début Drivers Category:F1 drivers killed while racing